Washington journalists will convene at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, often called #nerdprom, Saturday night

Published Apr 28, 2018 at 12:31 PM

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Former White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, shown here during a 2015 briefing, criticized the Trump press team's handling of the truth in a recent interview. “Look, at the risk of being blunt here, protecting the president’s ego in the current administration is no small thing and that’s why they’re willing to tell lies that degrade their credibility,” he said

Washington journalists will convene at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday night to mingle with government sources, take stock of their relationship with the administration and crack jokes.

Since President Donald Trump took office, his aggressive approach to press relations — frequently calling stories he dislikes “fake news,” and naming and shaming reporters via Twitter — has been a shock for those use to a more sedate relationship with his predecessors. Not surprisingly, Trump’s coverage has been overwhelmingly negative.

In wide ranging interviews with NBC News, two former presidential press secretaries, Mike McCurry and Josh Earnest, are both aghast at the current state of affairs. "It's fundamentally corrosive to our democracy when the president in the White House doesn't respect the role of the independent press," McCurry said. "If you don't respect the role that the free press plays and call them enemies of the people, then you are doing something that is fundamentally destructive in our democracy. And I think that is a very, very troubling thing that's happening."